Handle grip



T. L. FAWICK HANDLE GRIP May l1, 1943.

Filed July; l1, 1940 INVENTOR 7%0/7705 L Ewa/3 www ,x9.1

ATTORNEY Patented lll/layl 11, 1943 i HANDLE GRIP A Thomas L. Fawlck, Aln'onfOhioy Application July 1i, 1940, serial No. 344,931A

1 Claim.

This invention relates to handle, grips and .is especially valuable in the provision of nonslipping gripping surfaces for golf clubs', although not wholly limited thereto. y

Its chief objects are to provide a highly effective non-slipping surface for golf-club handles and the like; to provide the same economically; to provide neatness of appearance; to make unnecessary certain parts that heretofore have been commonly employed; to provide durability; and to provide a hand-grip that can be readily and securely applied to golf clubs or other tools that are already in service.

Further and more specific objects will be manifest of the following description.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section, with parts in elevation, of apparatus adapted for the practice of my invention in its preferred form.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation, with parts 2U gripping Surface in Spille 0f the tapered form of broken away and parts in Setiny 0f the handle the handle, the helical Cuts in the mandrel prefportion of a g01fc1ub shaft and a handgr1p erably do not extend the full length of the gripthereon, embodying my invention in its preferred ping Zane but Only threugh Such short sections funn of it, separated by uncut circumferential mnes Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification. 25 l". Il, Fig- 1, that the like Cuts can all be con- Fig. 4` is a fragmentary section of a hand grip tlnuous for the length of the section without runmade in accordance with my invention and hav- Ding into a narrowing 0f the lands between cuts ing a temporary extension of relatively large diby reaSOn 0f the taper. ameter for facilitating the mounting of it upon T0 provide a temporary bell-Shaped extension a, handle, im I8, Eig. 4, to make it easy to mount the hand- Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section, with parts in grip Upon a handle, the mandrel is formed with elevation, illustrating my invention as applied to a Complemental DOFOII I3", Flg- 1, 0f relatively a finished golf club made in accordance with large diameter. common prior practice and permissibly already After a suiciently thick deposit 0f the subin service, .Il stance upon the mandrel has been obtained, by

,Referring to the drawing, lo is a container repeated dips or by the use of a coagulant upon partly filled with a liquid containing in solution the mandrel, 0r by any of the usual practices. or in suspension a material adapted to be depositand after the Substance has been caused to beed.as a layer upon a mandrel dipped into the come Sel?, aS by drying and Vulcanizing in the liquid. to provide, with suitable treatment, a iur- 4o Case 0f an aqueous dispersion 0f rubber. or by ber or rubber-like layer adapted to be transthe use 0f a nre-vulcanized latex,l the layer is ferred to a golf Club or the like as a handle-grip Stripped from the mandrel, turned inside out. thereon, slipped onto the handle that is to be covered,

The liquid Il can be a natural or an artificial preferably with the aid of a suitable cement dispersion, preferably an aqueous dispersion, of 45 adapted to serve as a lubricant during the mountrubber, or a dispersion of a rubber-like substance, examples being the substances now extensively sold under the designations Koroseal, Duprene and Thiokol.

A plurality of suitable mandrels are shown at I2, I2, mounted upon a common support I3, here shown as a hand-manipulated bar.

Each mandrel is formed with the negative of a non-slip surface that is to be assumed by a layer of the substance that is to be deposited lll upon it from` the liquid I|,. and in the present embodiment this negative isLformed by several ,j series of helical cuts I4, I4'of suchl form as to provide fields of diamond-shaped lig1 lres;.in.rev lief, upon the surface of the mandrel.r Thisl'type of design involves only simple Lcuttlng of the mandrel and also provides, inthe non-slip surface that is formed against it in the dipping operation, corresponding elds of diamond-shaped recesses I5, I5, Fig. 3, defined by helical ribs I6, I6, which gives a vacuum cup effect and a. pleasing appearance when the covering is stripped from the mandrel, turned inside out, and mounted upon the golf-club handle.

In order that the cuts in the mandrel may be alike in cross-section, so that they can be made with the same cutting tool, and that the size and spacing of the recesses I5 and the ribs I8 may be substantially alike in different parts of the ing operation and then, upon drying, as an adhesive for holding the cover or hand-grip in place upon the handle.

In case the temporary bell-shaped extension I8, Fig. 4, is employed, which is desirable in the case of inexperienced persons applying the cover, it is subsequently trimmed off, by a circumferential cut I9, Fig. 5.

In Fig. 2 the shaft 20 of the golf club ls of such specially-provided large diameter in its handle portion that the cover, 2 I, can be applied directly to it, with no intervening nller or padding member.

In Fig. 3, for building up the handle portion of a shaft 22 to a suitable diameter. so that the shaft can be uniformly tapered from end to end. a filler member 22 is employed, and'it can be madeof a substance similar to, but permissibly less expensive than, that of the cover, 2l, and can be applied to the shaft in the same way.

In Fig. 5 a cover, 25, is shown mounted upon a club already provided with the usual leather winding 2l and its terminal thread wrapping 21, both of which can be eliminated in a handle initially made by the use of my invention.

Also, my invention, providing a cover having an integral, seamless, closed end, makes unnecessary the use of the crimped cap which is extensively employed for the outer extremity of a leather-wrapped handle. a

It is highly useful also for covering clubhandles already provided with leather wrappings, end caps, and thread windings, as it not only secures them in place but also provides a much superior gripping surface.

For snugness oi.' tit and secure anchorage in place, it is desirable that the cover either be initially made of a little less diameter than that of the handle on which it is to be used, or of a little less length than it is to have in use, or that it be smaller in both of those dimensions than the receiving portion of the handle, so that when it is in place it will be under tension circumferentially and also, preferably, lengthwise.

An advantage of making the cover somewhat shorter than the space that it is to occupy upon the handle is that stretching it lengthwise on the handle causes it to grip the handle more tightly.

To permit the escape of entrapped air and thus facilitate the mounting of the grip upon the handle a small hole can be punched or otherwise formed in the end-wall of the grip.

Modications are possible within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

A seamless tubular handle-grip member composed atleast chiefly of a substance having substantially the resilient deformability of fully vulcanized soft rubber and having its wall flared outward toward an open end thereof for facility of application of the member to a handle.

THOMAS L. FAWICK. 

